By Steve Biodrowski

According to a computer programming nerd in Mike Judge's comedy OFFICE SPACE, this is an "underrated movie" - an assessment with which it is hard to argue, if only because the film was dismissed so widely at the time of its release. Although SUPERMAN III is far from great, director Richard Lester indulges his penchant for comedy far more successfully than in SUPERMAN II, turning in a light-hearted movie with lots of colorful comic action that seems to have been crafted with the Man of Steel's "comic" book origins firmly in mind.

Having played out the love story between Lois Lane and Superman in the previous film, SUPERMAN III has Clark Kent head back to Smallville for a high school reunion, where he meets up with Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole). Meanwhile, computer programmer Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) invents a program to shave fractions of pennies off various transactions and funnel the accrued wealth into his paycheck. The clever scheme draws the attention of his villainous boss Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), who enlists Gorman in his schemes. Superman intervenes, but exposure to synthesized Kryptonite turns the Man of Steel evil. After the two sides of his nature duke it out, Superman regains his true self and winds up in a battle with an evil computer, but he finally saves the day, with Gorman's help.

Without the chemistry of the Lois and Clark romance, SUPERMAN III emerges as more of a kiddy movie; the high school reunion sub-plot even hints at an overt regression to an earlier time of pre-sexual childhood innocence. Margot Kidder's sexy Lois Lane is reduced to a walk-on at the beginning and end of the film; fortunately, the Lana-Clark relationship does have interest of its own. Unlike Lois, who is really in love with Superman, Lana truly loves Clark.

Christopher Reeve has some fun with the old "good-gone-bad" routine, and his battle with his evil twin is a nice highlight. Otherwise, the action sometimes feels like a been-there-done-that routine. Robert Vaughn's Ross Webster may not match the hammy histrionics of Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, but he is an adequate replacement as a super villain. Webster is more than adequately aided by Brit comic actress Pamela Stephenson, as the seductive Lorelie Ambrosia.

Richard Pryor, at the height of his movie stardom, stretches the definition of co-star in a film that was clearly designed to broaden the franchise's box office appeal by introducing overtly comic elements. In a strictly story sense, Pryor is the star of the film: like Eli Wallach in THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY, he walks into a franchise with an existing star and gets equal screen time; the film is about Gorman and his association with and eventual rejection of The evil Webster, showing him travel from being an almost-villain to an outright hero.

The result lacks most of the romance that helped audiences emotionally invest in SUPERMAN II, despite its flaws. The supercomputer is not a bad idea for a climactic showdown - you need something out of the ordinary to provide a credible threat for Superman - but it is no match for the super villains in the previous sequel.

In spite of these failings, director Richard Lester's comic sensibilities come through more clearly, now that he no longer is burdened with the baggage of SUPERMAN II (which had to complete storylines from the first SUPERMAN). The result is not great, but it is good, simple fun that avoids the schizophrenic storytelling of Part II - half serious and half funny - in favor of outright comedy, filling the screen with sight gags and special effects that aim to please without every really trying to convince us that "a man can fly".